And yes, there are still different-colored Martians and six-limbed creatures and monstrous predators (although we’re only told about the infamously vicious banth).

That’s all great — particularly the Martian flying machines that soar on wings of glass.

But when the script fiddles with Burroughs’ ideas, particularly in its strange, nearly motiveless arch-villains, it slows down. And when the movie relies on Stanton completely, it grinds to halt.

As one of Pixar’s stars — he directed “Finding Nemo” and “WALL-E” — Stanton is both a filmmaker with a visual style and someone whom the Disney studio wanted to keep happy, even to the extent of funding this extremely expensive 3-D epic.

But his skills as a computer animator don’t transfer easily to live-action filmmaking.

Yes, the film looks great, although the effects can be spotty — not surprisingly the lizard-like Tharks look far better alone, in motion-capture, than en masse in CGI. (The film’s best performance is courtesy of Willem Dafoe, who plays Tars Tarkas.)

But the work of the leads only proves Stanton is used to working with cartoons.

As Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium — one Burroughs place name that really could have been changed — Lynn Collins vainly attempts to act with her toned midriff and unnaturally blue eyes. And Taylor Kitsch, all fake swagger and gravelly stoicism, tries to evoke “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” but only channels “Jonah Hex.”

Certainly the action sequences are terrific — there’s a surprising, Coliseum-style duel to the death, some fine aerial sequences and enough hand-to-hand slaughter to give even Conan pause. But whenever the fighting stops and two people have to stand and talk, all the air goes out of everything. Suddenly it feels as if we’re in an empty theater, watching a dusty old sword-and-sandal epic. Even the wall-to-wall soundtrack music can’t bring it to life.

Of course, the stakes were always high. This is a big movie based on a fan favorite and that brings out extremes in people — true believers want to pronounce every adaptation a classic, and cynics want to see every ambitious project go down in flames.

Both are going to be disappointed here. But so is the average fan, who — expecting heroes and wonders — gets only cardboard actors and a few hours of eye candy.

Ratings note: The film contains violence.

'John Carter'

(PG-13) Disney (132 min.)

Directed by Andrew Stanton. With Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins. Now playing in New Jersey.